through -- to focus on ohio. that is a hopscotch around ohio. that tells you everything about the state of the race and the campaign strategy right now, ashleigh. >> thanks, john avalon. be safe. tell your driver thank you. happy friday. newsroom international starts now. welcome to "newsroom international." i'm suzanne malveaux. we are teaing you around the world in 60 minutes. here is what we are working on right now. >> this is not what a cease-fire is supposed to look like. it doesn't look like that is happening. we'll also have details of a large car bomb that floweded in damascus just a short time ago. we are live from neighboring lebanon in just a minute.

in afghanistan at least 40 people are dead after a suicide bomber hit a crowded mosque today. witnesses say the bomber was wearing a policeman's uniform. like i said, today starts a major muslim holiday. the mosque was so packed at the time of the explosion many people were praying outside. silvio berlusconi sentenced it to four years for tax fraud. it's a complicated case that dragged on for years involving berlusconi's media company and a swiss bank account. prosecutors say the company bought the tv broadcasting rights for some 3,000 american films. well, then they resold those rights at inflated prices, made a bundle avoiding taxes. berlusconi, he is expected to appeal. he is not going to serve any time until the appeal is heard. more on the developing story and a live report from rome. national weather service has a dire warning for northeast united states.

we are talking about right here. hurricane sandy could move through the region this weekend bringing widespread damage to virginia as well as to massachusetts and everything in between. sandy has killed 21 people that brought floods and heavy rain to cuba and haiti. kicked up powerful waves off of fort lauderdale. the storm, it is massive, with a cloud field stretching more than 1,600 miles. storm preps already in high gear in new jersey. people in atlantic city are filling the sand bags and crews gathering supplies. meteorologists say that a storm could merge with a cold system creating what they call a perfect storm. just like the one that hit northeast 21 years ago. severe weather expert chad myers following all of this. you and i talked about this. we talked about it on the show and outside. this is a very big deal. what are we looking at? you know, you don't expect it to be a big deal in october. you don't expect an october herebying to be what this has the potential to be.

we're talking monday. if it turns left and hits the dell marv yashg the chesapeake bay. maybe even tuesday night if it gets up to massachusetts. it just takes longer to get there. it's longer in the water. when it's longer in the water, it can also get stronger in the water. just because you're not in the eye you're going to get damage. there's going to be damage all up and down the northeast coast. >> if are you along the east coast, what do you expect going into the weekend and then to monday and tuesday? >> you know, saturday and sunday are your days to prep. monday is too late. you need to be ready to go by sunday night. then when people are calling me and asking me can we get in and out of the northeast? you know, what are planes going to look like? i don't believe there will be any planes flying. boston, new york, maybe down to philadelphia, d.c. all of those planes are going to be grounded somewhere else. they won't want those planes on the ground with winds blowing maybe 80, 90, or 100 miles per hour. the forecast is still coming on shore from the cone from new

england all the way down to north carolina. i can't tell you where in that cone, yet. the models are still confused. it's not close enough yet. we're still three and a half days away. >> all right. a lot of prep to do before then. we've been warned, so thank you, chad. appreciate it. presidential election just 11 days away. candidates, they are shifting their focus back, of course, number one issue for voters, and we're talking about the economy. next hour, mitt romney will give what his campaign is calling a major speech on the economy. we're going to bring it to you live along with analysis from our political team. romney's message, so far, has focused on his five-point plan. what does that plan include? well, we are talking about energy independence, providing americans with the skills to succeed, trade that works for america, cutting the deficit, and championing small businesses. that's romney's agenda. that's what he is saying. president obama also promoting his own plan for the economy. he had similar issues where are we are talking about providing american manufacturing, energy made in america, growing small

businesses, quality education, and cutting the deficit by more than $4 trillion. putting any charge of your health care and protecting retirement security. all those things can they do? we don't know. mitt romney giving his economic speech in ames, iowa. that is helping the next hour. you know, iowa one of the battleground states. six electoral votes. of the two most recent national polls, one has the president ahead by eight points. the other has the race tied. iowa's unemployment rate 5.2%. that's actually lower than the national average, so iowa, why now? joining us to talk about it, cnn political editor paul steinhauser. talk about this new report that shows the economy grew much better than what economists actually expected. romney put out a statement saying it's disappointing, discouraging. what do we know about today's speech? is he actually going to be dealing with that? >> i think you may hear some kind of comment on that. you know, as you mentioned, the

romney downplaying that report as the obama campaign saying that basically this is another sign that the economy is recovering from the big recession, but they say more work is needed to be done. as for today's speech, i don't think you're going to hear a lot of new specifics or new ideas from mitt romney. instead, the xaen says what he will do is, again, talk about why this election is a big change election. i think what this speech does, suzanne, is bring the issue back to what mitt romney wants to talk about, the economy. it's his wheelhouse. it's been his mantra for running for president for a year and a half. he is most comfortable when he is talking about the economy, and that's what the speech is all about. it's a plan for a while. they've had this kind of in the works for quite some time, suzanne. >> so it wasn't necessarily meant to coincide with the gdp report, is that right? >> probably not. you know, listen, is it a fringe benefit that we're talking about the economy today, as he speaks about the economy? sure. remember, next friday, a week from today, you have one more big, big number to come out. that is the october unemployment report. it will be the last national jobs report before we have the elections, suzanne. >> paul, something we have heard of the last couple of days,

romney kind of retooling his stump speech. he is focussing more on these stories about families who are struggling and hard economic times, and really it kind of feels like he is taking a page from bill clinton's i feel your pain approach. do we expect that we're going to hear more of that today and less about the specifics about, like, tax loopholes and deductions that he would eliminate to really make his plan move forward and work? >> very good point. we've seen that surface from the speech, and, yep, there are a lot of those kind of personal stories. you'll hear mitt romney talk about a lot of people that he has met over the last year and a half on the campaign trail and how they're struggling. take a look at these numbers, and it really explains what you are just talking about. here's an nbc-wall street journal national poll. when it comes to the economy, which candidate would do a better job? romney. he has often led in most polls when he comes to that. go to the next number. who would do better dealing with the middle class? you can see here looking out for the middle class, you'll see this in a lot of other polls as well. the president has an advantage in double digit advantage, and we've seen that for months now. that has not changed. here's an excerpt of what mitt

romney will say in the speech today. this is not the time to double down on the triple down government policies that have failed us. it's time for new bold changes that measure up to the moment that can bring america's families the certainty that the future will be better than the past. again, you hear mitt romney talk about families. you're going to hear a lot about personal people that he has met over the last year and a half, suzanne. >> all right. we'll be paying attention. paul, good to see you, as always. president obama is laying out his own economic plan. his vision for the next four years in a rolling stone interview. it hits newsstands today. the man who conducted the interview, he knows a thing or two about presidents. he is a presidential historian, author and history professor at rice university in texas. joining us from new york. doug, of course, good to see you here. "the rolling stones" cover has the president, you say, excessively cautious and perhaps a survival trait because at this time really nobody wants to make any kind of off remark to derail their own campaign. this was really the same kind of criticism that he faced when i covered him back in 2008.

why do you think that he is so cautious right now as opposed to getting us a little something different? >> well, you know, it's -- he is very aware of the new media culture where any moment there's -- something is on youtube or an off the cuff remark gets picked up. i think he is cautious about that. i did my interview with him for 45 minutes in the oval office, and i try to get him on things, talking a little more about what went wrong in denver. that was kind of tough to do. when i switched gears and talked about history, about what he thinks about how the look at obama care, does he like the term, what would he call his policies put together, and he calls it the fair shake or thinks that that's okay. i was able to make more headway. >> so you did get him off his talking points a little bit. there was a moment here that caught our attention, this exchange between the president and, of course, "rolling stone" executive editor eric baits. this was really on the way out of the interview. baits asked the president -- he

says his 6-year-old daughter is rooting for him, and you write that the president responds to this saying, you know, kids have good instincts. they look at the other guy and say, well, that's a bs-er, i can tell. the president actually used the whole phrase there. we can make -- we can certainly make out what he actually said here. what do you think about the fact that he used that language? >> well, i think we all use that word. he is human, and it's sort of part of the romnesia theme. nothing really too new with that that he doesn't trust mitt romney. he -- >> but the language is new, doug? i mean, obviously the language is pretty tart there. do you think that was intentional? >> i don't know because i can't do -- i just know what happened. people make a lot out of it, but harry truman and john f. kennedy used to say that word almost every moment, so did l.b.j. i think if anything we see a precedent that seldom uses that. he used kick ass, and it created a little bit of a stir, but he

seems pretty cautious. in this anecdote it was an informal moment. >> i have my own theory on that because, you know, there was a kind of off the mic moment last go round when he called kanye west a jack blank, and you know the word we are talking about, and it seemed as if he regretted that. i think he was pretty intentional with this. this is something that perhaps speaks to younger voters and the language that they're using. he is being a little more forthcoming about what he means there and that he is very intentional about what he says and when he says it, but 45 minutes in the oval office with the president, i imagine there are some things that were revealing about how he is feeling. we've seen him kind of hoarse the last couple of days, exhausted. what did he seem like when you sat down with him? >> well, he really was sort of all systems go in kind of an unflappable, we're going to win this thing mood. i think he wanted to use the intu to talk about what a second term would look like. i got him to talk about how important bill clinton has been as an ally of his and how much

he feels that clinton particularly and i think the midwest, ohio, wisconsin, iowa, he is in many ways talking about let's get back to the clinton economy, not a bush economy. and mainly i thought the most interesting thing to me was how determined he was to say -- no qualifiers -- that if mitt romney becomes president, most likely the effort to undo roe v. wade is upon us, really hitting that kind of hard when you read the interview that there will be a new supreme court justice. it will give it five people that -- that women need to wake up. >> doug, how do they compare to many of the other president that is you have actually sat down with? did he seem -- >> i have gotten to know -- >> did he seem calm and confident? >> i have known him a little bit. he is an intellectual. when it comes to presidential history, he reads all these books about abraham lincoln, theodore roosevelt, f.d.r. you know, he is wonkish in a sense of detail and history. right now he is trying to get the fire going in the belly, and

i think he used the interview to start setting the stage. he doesn't like the idea that he is not out there campaigning about his next term and what it would look like. in my piece i tried to talk about him as being a progresssive fire wall. in many ways the yes we can of 2008 and now no, you won't, meaning you will not drill in the arctic, you will not make medicaid and medicare a voucher system. you will not, you know, roll back any aspect of social security. on and on that he is trying to get his base out. "rolling stones" demographics age is 20's and 30's, and so i think the interview in some ways was aimed at that audience. you see him doing mtv later today. >> all right. douglas, good to see you, as always. thank you. it is something you're only going to see here on cnn. our very british richard quest out on an american journey by train to talk to voters from chicago to san francisco.

plus, his tax fraud trial started six years ago. today silvio berlusconi now sentenced. and does this sound like a truce to you? right? this is a syrian cease-fire ending almost as soon as it starts. hi, i'm phil mickelson. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure,

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now more on the developing story out of italy. the country's former prime minister silvio berle scone where i sentenced four years in prison today for tax fraud. ben wederman is in rome. we understand that berlusconi is going to file an appeal. do we think he is going to do any prison time? >> at this point it doesn't appear to be the case. he will appeal. he has two appeals before the verdict will actually be carried out, and if you look at the past, he has had at least 30 cases that have gone to trial, and in all of those, he has either been acquitted or through the appeal process or through a change of the laws he has been able to avoid doing any time, any fines. in this case certainly he has a while before -- i mean, he has these two levels of appeals he

can go through, and, in fact, there's a 2006 law that's aimed at reducing prison populations so that unless you are up for terrorism, murder, drug charges, or involvement with the mafia, he could have that four-year sentence reduced to one, and usually when you are over 70 in italy and you have a sentence of less than two years -- 18 months to two years, you probably don't have to serve that sentence taught. mr. berlusconi probably isn't too worried at the moment. >> a lot of people when they think of him, they think of some of the allegations involving women and scandals that he has been allegedly involved in. is that how they came to investigate him in the first place? is that related at all to what we're seeing with the tax fraud? >> that's a completely different case. this involves his business empire, media set, and a series

of deals involving shell companies buying the rights to about 3,000 american movies all intended really to reduce their tax bill. that's separate from the case of this at the time 17-year-old moroccan exotic dancer he is charged in a case. in fact, they've also had a hearing today. he is charged with having paid for sex with a minor. that's a completely different case. suzanne. >> ben, do we think he has any future political am bigs, or is he basically done? >> no, in fact, two years ago -- rather, two days ago he announced that he would not be running for the prime ministery in the upcoming elections, and according to the sentence today, the verdict today, he is barred from holding public office for the next three years. >> all right. >> now, in italian politics, however, never say never. people can always come back even though he is a young 76 years old.

>> all right. ben, thank you so much. appreciate it. we're running out of time. it's supposed to be a few days of peace, right, for the muslim holiday of eid. instead it got scenes like this. the aftermath of the car bomb explosion on a damascus street that failed syrian cease-fire. [ ryan ] it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster. you can mix and match all day! [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's endless shrimp, just $14.99! try as much as you like, any way you like! like parmesan crusted shrimp. hurry in, offer ends soon! i'm ryan isabell and i see food differently. hurry in, offer ends soon! take the steps to reach yours, everyowith usgoals. with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients,

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we are just getting details of what witnesses are calling a massive car bomb that exploded a short time ago in the suburbs of damascus here. well, the images, they are new to cnn. we are working our sources as much as we can, but, remember, cnn has no camera teams, no reporters inside syria right now. we are not allowed by the government to even enter the country. from what we are hearing, several people are dead. some of them are children. the bomb was in a booby-trapped car that exploded outside a mosque. we want to get live to mohammed. he is not in syria, but in beirut, lebanon, the closest we can get. two things that are happening here when you talk about the violence in syria. car bomb that goes off at the mosque. a major religious holiday, and still, you are not able to get inside of the country.

this was supposed to be a cease-fire. what is going on? >>. >> well, that's right. you know, hopes have been high for this cease-fire to take hold. expectations have been very, very low the last few days that it actually would take hold in syria. now, let's talk about the last couple of days, what's happened. yesterday you saw indications from inside syria that not everybody was for this cease-fire. take a look at this video. these are civilians in an opposition held part of the north part of syria talking about how they didn't want this cease-fire to take hold. >> cease-fire? what cease-fire are you talking about? we do not want a cease-fire. we want the fall of the regime. this regime kills our people every day. what cease-fire are you talking about? we do not need the cease-fire, and we are not thinking about it. >> he wants to transport ammunition to military posts. >> this is a sent meant that's been echoed by some members of

the rebel syrian army forces over the last few days. rebels say -- yet, the syrian government did say yesterday that they would enter into a cease-fire. we want to point out to our viewers, this reportedly shot in homs hours ago showing explosions going off. you hear what sounds like shelling happening. a man running around screaming about the reality the first day over a time that's supposed to be peaceful, what it's like for the perceived city of homs. he is blame this on government forces and clashes between government forces and rebel free syrian army members. they're showing violence across syria. a day when a cease-fire is supposed to take effect and local coordination and opposition syria that at least 20 people have been killed. >> so it really sounds like

there is nobody believes that a cease-fire is possible in syria. >> it's hard to say. a lot of people and the people we speak with in syria say they don't believe this will hold. one of the problems is you have both the rebels and the regime putting conditions on a cease-fire. the regime yesterday when they mounsed there was going to be a cease-fire said that they have the right to retaliate against any terrorist activity and to defend their borders from areas that enter the country. they said that if their attack, their going to attack back. because of that and what is going on, it's looking increasingly dire. now with this car bomb that's gone off in the past couple of hours of damascus -- she was shot in the head. the young pakistani activist as well as the taliban.

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13-year-old pakistani girl critically injured by taliban militants does not have significant brain damage. that is good. that is word from malala's doctors in birmingham, fwland. they say malala is walking with little help, and she appears to remember things that happened before she was shot. she was attacked for promoting a girl's right to education. she was reunited with her family yesterday. she thanks her doctor's in pakistan. >> the right place at the right time, and i'll say that, of course an attacker who was -- who could be called the agent of satan, he attacked.

>> she has spent more than three decades covering issues just like that in pakistan. she was the first woman to work in the country's mainstream media. her work has earned her a lifetime media award from the media foundation, and she's joining us from los angeles. first of all, congratulations. really such an honor to be able to even speak with you about what is taking place here. you actually started a newspaper "dawn" back in 1975. for years you're the only one -- the woman -- only woman in the newsroom. what was that like for you? >> thank you. i think it was really, really great being there. of course, in the beginning there was -- i wouldn't say uphill, but it was a challenge to establish myself and to prove myself, but once i had done it, it was quite easy going because

in some ways i even found it an advantage being a woman because i could go into areas where a man would not have been allowed. you know, what pakistan is. it's a very segregated society, and i could enter, say, the refugee camps. i have been to the border area, and i could go and talk to the women there when no one would have talked to them. it was the men who were doing all the talking. or even in shanty towns, remember, for the election i could go and talk to the women and ask them what they wanted from the leaders. >> tell me a little bit about what is happening now? i mean, when you look at this, fast forward from the 1970s. now 2012 when you have this pakistani girl who is the target for assassination by the taliban, shooting her in the head because she believes in just rights for girls to have an education.

what do you make of what is taking place in your country? >> i think malala has proved what we have been feeling for quite many time. that it is generally being said that the pakistanis do not want to educate the girls. the parents are conservative, and they don't want to take the girls to school, but i think that has long passed. now people do value education, and even education for girls. so what happened to malala? the was so much shock and sense of outrage and in a way reached the barrier of silence where people didn't want to speak about maybe out of fear because what the taliban were doing, but now it seems that they've come into the open, and there's been so much support for her all over the country. >> all over the world. >> men as well as women. >> yes, that's true. >> what do you make of the strength of the taliban in

pakistan, because so many people have come forward to support this little girl. are ae they as strong as we think they are here in the united states? >> yes. i think that is true. actually, the taliban, the problem is they don't have so much support, but they are armed, and if the rest of the population is unarmed, so it gives them a certain kind of power which gave them the wrong perception that they are really dominating the scene. they are doing it with the help of the weapons. >> well, we congratulate you on your work, on your lifetime achievement award, and the work that you continue to do inside of pakistan to bring change there for women and for your society. thanks again. appreciate it. it is an unusual quest. we're talking about a quest from civil war reenactments to the campus of brigham young

university. one of our cnn national reporters find out what americans really think about the race for the white house. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

for eight days our richard quest traveled from city to city on a train, stopping to hear what americans think about the elections and the issues. it is called his american quest for answers. making a rare stop here in atlanta as well. good to see you in person. i mean, you and i have so much fun from across the pond and now you're -- you're here for how long? >> a couple of weeks, and i have been on this train, the california zephyr, which goes from chicago to san francisco, and it was -- we started in chicago, obama country. we then went to iowa, swing state. then colorado, swing state. >> what are your impressions? >> you're talking to american folks with the election. you went to some kind of odd places.

>> we went to a civil war reenactment, which was incredible in iowa. i met some very interesting people. we went to byu in utah to meet to see how they viewed what was happening. >> romney's alma mater. >> right. and former mayor willy brown of san francisco showed me around his city. what i learned is this. i realize it's not a revelation, but america is split, and not only that, it is those small number of undecideds who will decide. what are the issues? why are they so unhappy? what is the core feeling that's going on in this -- >> what did they tell you? did they divulge anything? >> yes, they did. next week you'll find out. >> oh, come on. that is such a tease. >> oh, coming from you? >> you are teasing your series. >> what they told me is basically their deep concern of what's happening in the country and that they ultimately will go with the person that they like,

that kneel right about, and that's -- this is not the people who are one-side definite, one side the other side. these are the people who are looking every single day hoping for that moment of inspiration for the person they want. >> did you meet the so-called undecides? >> lots of them. tloo there's a theory that i have. maybe they just need a little attention here. are they really undecided? are they saying they really don't know who to vote for, 11 days out? >> what is fascinating is which way they go. i'll tell you what, by that i mean is one person said research shows they go to the incumbent. within five minutes somebody else told me that the research shows that they go to the challenger. as you say in my report next week -- and throughout all of this we return to the california zephyr where we sleep on board, we eat, we look at the vistas of the rockies. >> is there anything that was, like, really different, your impression just traveling the country here in the united states as opposed to, you know, the u.k.? >> always how friendly, how

welcome, how charming people are. particularly when you lock them all up on a train for 48 hours or for eight days and you feed them food and alcohol. suddenly people talk. >> they really don't have a choice. >> it's a great train. have you ever done it? >> i've done it on the east coast. not the west coast. >> it was comfortable. >> college i used to go from, you know, d.c. up to boston, so i've been on a train. >> there's too many jokes there. there's just -- >> save them for monday. we have all that next week. richard, good to see you, as always. richard's trip across the u.s. by train might not be your cup of tea, but looking for something more meaty? well, we have that for you. hotel that is offer rest, relax's, lots of food. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years,

we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] ♪ this fall good food, actually, on the agenda, but

what -- great get-away. what is a great get-away? >> this is a place that has a gorgeous setting and then you really feel like you're getting a little bit of a cultural experience as well. it's an immersion experience, including what you put in your mouth. >> tell me about these places that you can go. >> well, everyone loves its, and a great place to go is southern italy. they have so much local bounty. i love the margarita there because francis ford coppola has been there. it's nine rooms, and it used to be his personal estate. his daughter got heard here. if you want to learn to cook, classic italian food, go to italy. you can learn to make the best pastas and go to the best farms to see the artisinal products. when you are tired of that all, you go right to his incredible screening room there. over 300 italian movies that he

has curated himself. >> a little bit further afield, i would recommend going to vietnam. if you love asian food and you have never have vietnamese food, you are in for an absolute treat. they have a cooking class which i love because you can go right to the market and experience what it is to basically food shop with the locals and then come back and do your hands-on cooking and then basically what you cook is what you have for lunch. >> really? wow. so if you are somebody like me who doesn't really cook or knows how to cook, could you actually -- do you find this enjoyable? i mean, will they take people like me who don't cook at all? >> even you, suzanne, can go, and i think actually closer to home in british columbia, there's a great property called sook harbor house. you don't have to cook. they have things like mushroom forgeaging. you can even hunt fish or salmon or just walk around their incredible organic guard ernz and pick your own herbs. maybe for even a cocktail. so you don't even have to get your hands that dirty.

>> looks beautiful. we're just looking at these pictures here. looks absolutely amazing. >> every single one of these properties is stunning, and whether you know how to cook or just love to eat, these are great places to go. >> is it affordable for most folks? how do you -- how long should you stay? >> you know, i love really settling into a place, so i think three or four days at any destination is a great idea, and a couple of those hotels -- actually the last two are around $200 a night, so i think it's actually very, very accessible. >> that's great. that's amazing really. -- >> a major economic speech. of course, you'll watch it here live from cnn. a preview. i don't spend money

on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago.

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the latest on hurricane sandy. we want to bring in chad myers to talk about where this hurricane is head and what is our timetable in terms of prepping for this thing. it's going to be big, yeah? >> it is going to be big, and i don't -- we're still three days out, so i try to be cautious on the terminology that i use. to not get people panicked. this is a storm that knocks down a million trees, puts power out to millions of people. it's going to take a long time to get all that power back up. although it's only a category one storm, we're going to have a very large high pressure system to the west, and this matters because as the low moves up and encounters the high, the high and the low as they're next to each other, make tremendous -- in the big cities.

probably 150 miles from the center of the eye, so we're not worried about just the eye itself. look how tightly packed those lines are. both circle is the low in the ocean. the other thing over by michigan, that's the high. the winds as they get closer together as those lines get back together, the winds will be from maine all the way to maryland. in fact, maryland just issued a state of emergency. >> so when do we expect all of this to happen? >> if the storm turns and moves to maryland, d.c., virginia, that would happen monday night. if the storm heads out to sea for a little bit and then comes in to rhode island, massachusetts, maybe long island, that would be tuesday night because it would take longer to get there. >> and so we are looking at prep time of how long? >> i think you need to be done with your preps by sunday. you need to be ready to go. you nude to be ready -- we'll know as it gets closer, probably be ready to camp in your house for five days without power. it may take that long. if we get millions of people without power, those lines don't go back up all at one time.

the crews have to be in. they assess the damage. it's going to take a long time. remember the leaves are on the trees, some of them, and if it snows and that could happen in pennsylvania, parts of ohio, west virginia, some of those trees are going to come down because of the snow. looking at some of the computer models putting two feet of snow down in parts of west virginia. this is a big event. this is the biggest storm we have seen in our lifetime. >> in our lifetime? >> absolutely. i think so. >> okay. all right. well, that's very serious, and obviously we're going to be paying attention to all the details that you have as soon as we have them. thank you, chad. appreciate it. >> mitt romney giving what he is calling and his campaign calling a major speep on the economy. that is happening at the top of the hour. our team standing by to help break all this down. candy crowley is in washington. jim accosta is with the romney campaign in ames, iowa. ali velshi on the road. romney's message so far focussing on the economy, and that is his five-point plan. this is what it includes, he says. energy independence, providing americans with the skills to succeed, trade that works for america, cutting the deficit,

and championing small businesses. well, president obama, he also has a plan that he has been promoting for the economy. it's similar issues. we are talking about reviving american manufacturing, energy made in america, growing small businesses, quality education, cutting the deficit by more than $4 trillion. putting you in charge of your health care and protecting -- military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common.

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(train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney...

a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. wait til my wife's phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well. this hour we're focussing on politics and the economy. the number one issue for voters, of course, front and center, again, just 11 days until the presidential election. you're looking at live pictures. this is from ames, iowa. this is where mitt romney -- he is going to be speaking any minute now. his campaign calling this a major speech on the economy. we're going to bring you his remarks, as well as insights and analysis from our political team. joining us, a preview and post-game analysis of the romney

speech. candy crowley out of washington, ali velshi on the road in philadelphia. want to start off with you, candy. we've gotten some excerpts here. we don't expect any new details out of this economic plan, this speech. they're calling it a major announcement. do we think this is simply kind of jumping up and down, repackaging much of the same to try to get our attention, or do we think there might be a little bit more to this? more substance? >> look, we'll see. it is my experience in the last. >> no candidate wants to -- you will find that neither one of them wants to make a mistake. what they buy know and what you are seeing is that this is now about turnout, and it's not just about turnout on election day. it's about turnout in all those states that have early voting. you see, the president out doing that 4846 hour tour and bringing out bill clinton next week.

you see romney making major speeches. to me this needs to be seen more through the prism of getting folks excited to go vote than through the prism of, hey, we're about to get some real big policy notifications here. >> you have the nbc wall street journal poll here saying that more people are confident that romney can best handle the economy overall. 46% to president obama's 40%. you got this poll over here from nbc, wall street journal saying more people believe that the president would do a better job looking out specifically for the middle class. 52% to 36% for romney. what do you think, candy, actually carries more weight. >> we've always thought the question cares about people like me or understands people like me to carry a lot of weight, and that's closest to the second question. in a -- but in an economy where people think what are we going

to do, it is huge for mitt romney to have regained because that's where he was kind of a while back, and i think you can attribute this to the first debate. people looked at him and thought the guy presents a plan, he knows what he is talking about, and i think it sort of solidified some of those who were worried about the former governor. i think it's a good number for him, but, you know, cares about people like me tends to be one of those poll drivers that we see, you know, afterward and say, well, i think he gets my life that's important. it's important for a voter to think this is a man who understands what i'm facing. it's certainly not the definitive thing, but it is generally pollsters look at right track, wrong track. that question, and that cares about people or understands people like me is kind of fairly important numbers that shape how people vote. we're looking at a dead heat

nationwide, and we're looking at close races in those battle grounds. clear there is mitt romney is leading the president in can best handle the economy. certainly a huge plus for the team. >> candy, thank you, and we'll bring in ali to talk about the economy on the road in philadelphia. ali, first of all, you're talking about 11 days left before the election. better than what folks were thinking. i don't know. does that mean that people are actually living better, living well? is this an economic indicator that people can feel? >> economic indicators have been whacky in the last few months. it's hearted to know. they are completely divergent. there are some things that tell us we're headed towards resettle and are not great, and there are other things that tell us that things are good, including, by the way, consumer confidence, which is more important than any of this stuff. consumers in america are actually feeling good. the jobs numbers are getting better. next week is going to be -- next

friday, a week from now, is going to be the big number. that's the last sxwrobz number before the election. this gdp thing is interesting, though. we were expecting it to be 1.7%. it came in at 2% and compared to the second quarter of this year, which was 1.3%, we have shown some significant growth. that's got to help barack obama, but the question then becomes for those undecided voters who i have been out on the bus talking to, do they want a presidential candidate or a president who is good for the economy or those that are good for me. unfortunately, i'm saddened, but i think that candy is right and you know more about this than i do. the sliver of people that would like answers right now would like details from mitt romney about how he is going to manage to create 12 million jobs in four years and cut taxes across the board without deepening the deficit, and what they would like from barack obama are specifics about how if he has the same make-up in congress, how he is going to get more done

than he did in the first four years. i'm hungry for specifics like those undecided voters are. i don't think we're going to be knocked off our feet by what mitt romney has to say. i just don't think we're going to get the specifics, but if we are, i'll be most excited. >> we're waiting to find out if we're getting specifics. i don't think that's going to happen, but let's take a look and talk about the numbers behind all of this. the only things we know he is targeting big bird and planned parenthood. do we have any other ideas where serious cuts need to be made for his plan to work? >> if you look at the budget, it has a lot of big things. it ahas entitlement and defense. it's got nondiscretionary spending. that's where all the big stuff is. once you get away from the stuff that you can't touch all that easily, you are left with a smaterring of substantially smaller things. he says he doesn't want to deal

with amtrak. now, you can disagree on whether or not the deposit should be involved in amtrak, whether the government should be involved in high speed rail, but even if you accept it, it's $1.3 billion or something. we're talking about cutting $4 trillion to $5 trillion out of a deficit over ten years. how do you get there with those small numbers? the specifics actually do matter because once you start dealing with things like that, it is a matter of whether somebody like big bird or somebody likes amtrak or whether somebody likes this environmental protection. the details actually matter. as you know, this is politics. there's an undecided quotient of people who would really like details and that will make their decision based on it. why risk everybody else who is already going to vote for you by giving details that somebody can build an ad around. >> you have been talking to folks out on the road. you're in a critical swing state of pennsylvania. when you talk to folks who say they're undecided, why do they say they're undecided? what are they looking for from mitt romney today or from the president over the weekend? >> so many of these undecideds

are leaning one way or the other. they were -- some people said they were frustrated by barack obama's glossy pamphlet that came out on monday, which, again, provides aspirations and hopes and goals very much like mitt romney's as spirations and goals of doing things without a road map. you see, we've been burned in the last four and five years. we don't trust people. we don't trust that just because somebody says it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. barack obama and mitt romney want different things in the future, but both would be better than the stagnation we have right now. if you could convince them that your plan actually has a chance of succeeding, even if it's not the plan they agree with, they might actually come over and vote for you. i don't know that anything will be happening between now and november 6th that will give these voters the specificity of

what we want to say tell me how you get there. don't just tell me where you want it to be. i can tell you i want to look like brad pitt and have a full head of hair too, but unless i tell you how that's going to happen, it's of no use. >> of no use. maybe there's hope there, ali. he'll bring back candy here. ali brings a point about people looking for details, and maybe that's us. maybe that's everybody. i'm not even sure here. do you think that there's even enough time for either one of these candidates to change voters' perceptions of who they are and what they are this late in the game. >> to the extent that there are still undecided or persuadable voters out there, perhaps. if nothing has moved them so far in the end i think this is an internal choice by those voters who remain undecided with the information they have at hand. i am not sure. ali obviously has been talking to people that want to know how this candidate is going to get to point a and how they're going to get to point b. what we have heard, i think,

through most campaigns has been goals. they call them plans, but they're not plans. they're goals. you know, i want to have better education. that's a goal. that's not a plan. i think both sides are guilty of this, but i also think that many general voters look for the direction of a candidate, and i don't think that between now and the 11th -- i mean, i'm sorry, between the 11 days between now and the 6th that voters are going to get some line by line specificity budget. now, mitt romney has also said in addition to the things that ali talked about, i'm going to go through the budget line by line and say is this program worth borrowing money from china for? that's his way of saying is this worth going into debt for? we don't know what those are in the big programs. we know that will both of them want reform, but we don't exactly know where they take reform, much less what they could get out of congress.

>> i think candidates have always been reluctant to put out some big long report with a bunch of numbers. you know, people can then throw arrows at. >> candy, talk about what we've been hearing from the surrogates. he believes the former secretary of state colin powell is voting and supporting president obama because of his race. you have other members of congress like murdock talking about abortion and rape. how difficult has it been for mitt romney's campaign to stay on message and to push for an economic plan that people are paying attention to?

>>. >> and there's a candidate that is going to cause you to vote for him or against him, these are small enough things, sort of fibrillations, not heart beats, and people vote on the heart beat, and so they kind of know who they're going to vote for, most people. i think this is -- this becomes part of the background noise as we go forward, and you're right. it's a distraction from mitt romney as far as he gets asked about it. is he going to get -- is he going to say he doesn't want to be in richard murdock's ads? is he going to say this or that? we don't want to be talking about that, but in terms of actual votes lost, i don't think they're looking at it that way. i'm not sure there are any. >> all right, candy, ali, we'll get back to you in just a moment. mitt romney, of course, giving his vision for the future for the american economy. set to speak any minute now in iowa. we're going to bring it to you live. we are also watching, of course, the weather this hour. we're talking about a massive storm that could be barrelling towards the eastern seaboard. alreadied more than 20 lives. we're going to get the latest on hurricane sandy. our boys. husband's sister's boys. play cousins.

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live pictures from ames, iowa, where mitt romney will be speaking any minute now. we're looking at senator chuck grassley of iowa introducing mitt romney during this campaign. they're calling it a major speech on the economy. whether or not there will be any new details is another matter. we're getting some insights from our political team here, and what we think is the highlights. i want to bring in our ali velshi to talk about comparing these two visions here. the role of government from mitt romney's perspective and president obama's perspective. they have this five-point plan that romney lays out. it's very generic. energy independence, providing americans with kills skills to succeed, trade that works for america, cutting the deficit, ask championing small businesses. you have the obama plan that talks about very similar ushz. providing american manufacturing, energy made in america, growing small businesses, quality education, cutting the deficit by more than $4 trillion, and, of course, that the whole obama care

putting you in charge of your health care, protecting retirement, security. these are all kind of generic talking points. give me the specifics in terms of what is the difference between these two candidates. >> it's ultimately the role of government and the role of government is directly related to taxation. obama care is a difference between them, obviously. they both say they'll create the same number of jobs that will be created under them over the next five years. it comes down to taxes and the conservative belief that if you tax people less, you'll let them keep their own money in their pocket. they will use this money that they are not giving to the government to do something to conduct some economic activity, spending it, buying things, investing it in a way that will be beneficial to this economy. the fact is now that we're in a global economy, it's not as certain that that happens. it's not as certain that people invest in a way or spend in a way that has a direct relationship to creating economic growth. so the government -- the obama administration, the more liberal perspective on this is that in the absence of higher consumer and business spending,

government should fill that gap and that it's not time yet for the government to pull out of that spending. it will be time, but it's not time yet. mitt romney thinks that if you pull out now and you give people their tax money back, they will stimulate the economy on their own. fundamentally it is a decision on the role of government. you can look over to europe and say pulling out too quickly and imposing austerity was the wrong thing to do, but they increase taxes while pulling out of government spending. mitt romney is talking about decreasing taxes while pulling back on government spending. the question is how you do that without getting into a further deficit. mitt romney says his plan is revenue neutral and that is something most people have not been able to do the math and come to the same conclusion on. >> ali, i want to ask because there's so many things that impact really the state of our own economy here. we talk about the euro zone. we talk about the increase in the power of china and many different things that are moving our own economy. how honest is this discussion when they are talking about

the -- really things around the edges, we are talking about, like taxes and that type of thing? are they really -- do they realize that? i mean, i assume that they do, but they're kind of selling this to us as voters. >> foreign policy is something that is important to hear presidents talk about because they can have influence over it. economic policy, presidents get altogether too much blame and too much credit for creating jobs or high gdp. the fact is what they can do is about this much in the influence of the global economy. what europe is doing is about this much in the spher of the global economy. neither of these two dpiz can do anything about europe. you'll notice even in the foreign policy debate, they skipped europe and went right to china because you could actually saber rattle about china. there's nothing you can do about europe. saying that the economy will grow at a rate of, let's say, 4%, which is what i think the underlying assumption is for mitt romney's project ebbing ekzs on job growth and deficit. we're at 2%. we just learned that today.

we're at 2% right now. the best project ebbings are for 3% next year, and europe is still in a recession, and china is slowing down. india is slowing down. where do you get that extra growth from? both of these candidates are guilty of the same thing. tell us where you think you get it from, and if you don't know where you get it from, be honest with us and tell us it's going to be a little tougher in the last four years than you thought. >> okay. we're going to see what romney has to say about all this. mitt romney, of course, giving his vision of the future of the american economy set to speak any moment now. we're going to take a look at live pictures there. the introduction to the candidate. senator chuck grassley will have more after the break. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal that made our world a smaller place. we supported the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, so you can get cash when you want it. it's been our privilege to back ideas like these, and the leaders behind them. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping people and their ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

mitt romney speaking out in ames, iowa, about his economic plan. it's a state with six electoral votes on the line, and one that president obama won with a big margin back in 2008. right now the state looks like it is up for grabs. interesting fact here. construction company where the speech is taking place, this is kinser construction services, actually received $1.25 million of stimulus money back if 2009. it was shortly after the stimulus plan that was signed into law by president obama. let's listen to mitt romney. >> the economy struggles under

the weight of government and fails to create the essential growth and employment that we need. the same time emerging powers seek to shape the world in their image. china with its model of authority tarnism and a very different way jihadists with shaara and repression and terror for the world. this is an election of consequence where are our campaign is about big things because we happen to believe that america faces big challenges. we recognize this is a year of big choice, and the american people want to see big changes. together we can bring that kind of change, real change, it our count country. you know, four years ago candidate obama spoke to the scale of the times. today he shrinks from it trying to explain distract your attention from the biggest issues to the smallest.

from characters on is hes mee street and silly word games and attacks that he knows are false. the president's campaign falls far short of the magnitude of these times and the presidency of the last four years has fallen far short of the promises of his last campaign. four years ago america voted for a post-partisan president, but they have seen the most partisan political president and washington is in gridlock because of it. president obama promised to bring us together, but at every turn he sought to difize and demonize. he promised to cut the deficit in half, but he doubled it. how about his budget? he failed to win a single vote, either republican or democrat, in either house of the congress. he said he would reform medicare and social security and save them from pending insolve ensy. he shrunk from imposing any

solution at all. where are the jobs? where are the nine million mother jobs that president obama promised his stimulus would have created by now? they're in china, mexico, canada. in countries that have made themselves more attractive for aupt parenures and business and investment. even as president obama's policies are made them less attractive here. his campaign tries to deflect and detract to minimize the failures and to make this election about small shiny objects. this election matters more than that. it matters to your family and to the senior that needs to get an appointment with the specialist but is told by the receptionist that the doctor isn't taking any more medicare patients. it's been slashed by obama care. it matters to the man in wisconsin i speck to a few days ago in what were supposed to be his best work years, he had a job with $25 an hour with benefits and now has one at $8 an hour without benefits.

it matters to the college student graduating this spring with $10,000 to $20,000 in student debt. who now learns that she'll also be paying for $50,000 in government debt. a burden that will put the american dream beyond the reach of so many. it matters for the child that is failing school unable to go to the school of his parents' choosing because the teacher union that funds the president campaigns opposes school choice. the president's campaign slogan is this. forward. for millions of americans struggling to find a new job, it feels a lot more like backward. we can't afford four more years like the last four years. this election is about big things.

the price of the gasoline we buy and the choices we have in our health care. it's also about the big things that determine those things, like the growth of the economy, the strength of our military, our dependence on foreign oil, and america's leadership in the world. president obama frequently reminds us that he inherited a troubled economy, but a troubled economy is not all that he inherited. he also inherited the greatest nation in the history of the earth. he enharted the most productive and innovative nation in history. he inherited the largest economy in the world. he inherited a people who have always risen to the occasion regardless of the challenges they faced. so long as they've been led by men and women who brought us together called on our patriottism and guided a nation

with vision and conviction. despite all that he inherited, president obama did not repair our economy. he did not save medicare and social security. he did not tame the spending and borrowing. he did not reach across the aisle to bring us together. nor did he stand up to china's trade practices or deliver on his promise to remake our relations with the muslim world where anti-american and extremism is on the rise. what he inherited was not the only problem. what he did with what he inherited made the problem worse. in just four short years he borrowed $6 trillion nearly, adding almost as much debt held by the public as all prior american presidents combined. he forced through obama care frightening small business from hiring new employees and adding thousands of dollars to every family's health care bill. he launched an onslaught of new regulations often to the delight of the biggest banks and

corporations, but to the detriment of the small growing businesses that create two-thirds of our jobs. new business starts, they're at a 30-year low because entrepreneurs and investors are sitting on the sidelines. weary are from the president's and massive tax increases. many families can't get mortgages, and in entrepreneurs can't get loans because of dodd frank regulation that is made it harder for banks to lend. the president invested taxpayer money, your money, in green companies now failed that met his fancy and were sometimes owned by his largest campaign contributeors. he spent billions of taxpayer dollars on investments like cylindra and tesla and fisker that only added it our debt. energy prices are up in part because energy production on federal lands is down. he rejected the keystone pipeline from canada and cut in half drilling permits and leases even as gasoline prices soared

to new highs. no, the problem with the obama economy is not what he inherited. it's with the misguided policies that made millions of americans to endure poverty. that's why 15 million more of our fellow citizens are on food stamps than when president obama took office. that's why three million more women are now living in poverty. that's why nearly one in six americans today is poor. that's why the economy is stagnant. today we received, by the way, the latest round of discouraging economic news. last quarter our economy grew at just 2%. slow economic growth means slow job growth, and declining take-home pay. that's what four years of president obama's policies have produced.

americans are ready for change. for growth, for jobs, for more take-home pay, and we're going to bring it to them. now, you know we've had four presidential and vice presidential debates, and there's nothing in what the president proposed or defended that has any prospect of meeting the times. rising taxes. well, if it will not grow jbz or ignite the economy. tag in fact, his tax plan has been calculated destroy 700,000 jobs. a new stimulus three years after the recession officially ended. that makes fair government, but it won't stimulate the private sector any better than did the stimulus of four years ago. cutting $1 trillion from the military would kill jobs and devastate our national defense. this is not the time to double down on trickle down government policies that have failed us. it's time for a new bold change that measures up to the moment and that can bring america's

families the certainty that the future will be better than the past. if paul ryan and i are elected as your president and vice president, we will endeavor with all our hearts and energy to restore america. instead of more spending, more borrowing from china and higher taxes from washington, we'll renew our faith in the power of free people, pursuing their dreams. we'll start our plan for a stronger middle class that has five elements. you have heard me talk about them before. we're going to act to public america -- by sending programs back to states where they can be managed with less abuse and less cost. and by shrinking the bureaucracy in washington. number two, we'll produce more of the energy we need to help heath our homes, fill our cars, and make our economy grow. we will stop the obama war on

coal, and the very technology that produces it. we'll phase our sun cities once an industry is on its feet. rather than investing in electric, auto, we'll invest in energy science and research to make discoveries that can actually change our energy world. by 2020 we will receive north american energy independence. we'll open more markets for products and services and we'll hold accountable any nation that doesn't play by the rules. i'm going to stand up for the rights and interests of american workers and employers, and, four, we're going to grow jobs the best place for

entrepreneurs, for small business. this will mean updating by lowering tax rates while lowering deductions and closing loopholes and by making it clear from day one that unlike the kushlt administration, we actually like business, and the jobs that business creates. finally we'll make sure our citizens have the skills they need to suck seated, training programs are going to be shaped by the states where people live, and schools will put the interests of our kids and their parents and their teachers above the interests of the teachers unions. look, when we do those five things, this economy is going to come roaring back we'll see rising take-home pay and see the economy get growing more than double this year's rate. you know, after all the false promises of recovery and all the

waiting, we're finally going to see help for america's middle class. it is about time. and paul and i aren't going to stop there. when we take office, we're going take responsibility to solve the beg problems that everyone agrees can't wait any longer. we'll save medicare and social security both for current and near retirees and for the generation to come. >> we'll provide for those with preexisting conditions as well and to assure that every american has access to health care. we're going to replace government choice in health care with consumer choice. bringing the dynamics of the marketplace to a sector that's too long been dominated by government.

we're going to meet with democrats in washington regularly. we're going to look for common ground and shared principles. we'll put the interests of the american people above the interests of the politicians. i have led before in business and in the olympics. many my state i brought people together to achieve real change. as you know, i was elected a republican governor in a state that has a legislature that was 85% democrat. i came into office, we were looking at a multibillion dollar budget gap, but instead of fighting with each other, we came together to solve the problems. we actually cut government spending. we reduced it. we lowered taxed 19 times. we defended school choice. we worked to make our state

business friendly and our state moved up 20 places in job growth. our schools were ranked number one in the nation. we turned a $3 billion budget deficit into a $2 billion rainy day fund. i know it because i have seen it. good democrats can come together with good republicans to solve big problems. what we need is leadership to make that happen. america is ready for that kind of leadership. paul ryan and i will provide it. our plan for a stronger middle class will create jobs, stop the decline in take-home pay, and put america back on the path of prosperity and opportunity. this will enable us to promote the principles of peace. we'll help the muslim worldcom bat the spread of extremism. we'll dissuade iran from building a nuclear bomb. we'll build enduring

relationships throughout latin america look well, face big challenges, but we also have big opportunities. new doors have been opened to us to sell our ideas and products around the world. new technology offer limitless invasion. new ideas are changing lives and hearts in diverse nations and among diverse peoples. if we seize the moment and rise to the occasion our children will graduate into jobs that are waiting for them. seniors will be confident that their future is secure. men and women will have good jobs and good pay and benefits, and we'll have confidence that our lives are safe and that our livelihoods are secure. away this requires is change.

we need real change. big change. that time has come. >> modernizing education, restoring our founding principles. this is the kind of change that promises a better future, one shaped by men and women pursuing their dreams in their own unique ways. this election say choice between the status quo, going forward with the last policies of the last four years or instead choosing change. change that offers promise, promise that the future will be

better than the past. join pr and me. get your friends and family to do the same and vote for you nor the kind of leadership that these times demand. i'm counting on iowa. iowa may be the place that decides who the next president is. it may decide whether or not we're going to have real change. so i'm counting on you to vote to get your friends to vote, to work at the polls, to bring people out. we've got to take back america and make sure that we have the kind of change that gets america strong for not just for not, but for coming generations. thanks, you guys. great to be with you. god bless america. god bless iowa. god bless you. thank you so much. >> 17 minutes of speech. the mitt romney campaign laying out economic agenda in ames, iowa. they billed it as a major announcement, major economic speech. candy crowley is in washington. jim accosta is with the romney

campaign in ames, iowa. ali velshi on the road in philadelphia. first of all, i want to go to you first, ali, because one uft things that i heard here is that the gdp figure, the 2% increase in the third quarter. >> yeah. >> despite the fact that most economists didn't expect this. it was good news. we heard mitt romney say that this was a disappointment, that it wasn't the 4% that was necessary. so, you know, voters are tired of all the spin. which is it? was it -- is it good news? is it bad news? help us understand that figure. >> well, it's better news than he we thought it was going to be. we thought we were getting 1.p% growth, and we ended up getting 2%. it's better. 2% is not what is going to propel this economy forward. it's not going to create 12 million jobs in four years, which is why i found it interesting. they said this was major economic news. there wasn't a piece of economic news in it, but mitt romney did start to attach the 4% gdp growth, the 4% economic growth to his claim to create 12 million jobs over four years. now, finally i will tell you, suzanne, that math actually works. all i need to know is how you

get to 4% economic growth when we're at 2% right now, and there's not an economist around that predicts four in the next few years, but at least he is saying we need 4% gdp growth, double what we have now, in order to create 12 million jobs over four years. we edged a little closer to having an absolute full equation. we still haven't got the how you're going to do it part. beyond that, there wasn't a piece of economic news in that. that should have been billed as a major pep rally, not a major economic speech. there was nothing major about it, and it was hardly economic. >> ali, what would you be looking for to actually fill in the gaps, if you will, because you say that -- you're still left pretty dissatisfied, unsatisfied with this. >> right. so you have -- there are a few things you have to look for for economic growth. you do have -- it is tied to increased empty, because the more people who work, that's -- then businesses start to expand. we start to export more, and we produce more. energy is connected to producing

more. while mitt romney paints obama -- he said he has a disdain for coal and a war on oil and something about gas. there are many people who think that that will be an engine of growth. housesing is the other engine of growth, and finally something that was in president obama's jobs act that the republicans didn't like was the idea of an infrastructure bank. government financing part of a bank along with the private sepgtor to undertake major infrastructure bills. that's the stimulus that actually would work. there are a lot of ways to get to it. >> right. >> we need to see the pie a little bit. >> all right. we're seeing the crowd there. >> i wanted to go to our other jim acosta. nonstop, jim. been there. give us a sense of, first of all, you of all people can dissect this speech, whether or not you heard anything new,

because you hear this day in and day out, hour to hour, state to state. anything that you heard that makes this something -- some sort of major economic speech in your mind? >>. >> not really, no, suzanne. we heard a lot of this from mitt romney yesterday. he did have a big theme of big changes, and just to read one portion of this speech that i think really boils this all down in terms of what mitt romney is talking about, and lisp to the number of the words -- number of the times he uses big. our campaign is about big things because we have we happen to believe america faces big challenges. we recognize this is a year with a big xhois, and the american people want to see big changes. obviously the gop nominee came

out here and said that's not good enough. because of that sluggish growth that we're seeing here in the economy, he says that's going to result in declining take-home pay. he connected it back to a subject that he brings up a lot on the campaign trail, which is declining take-home pay. he has those words splashed across the side of his campaign bus. this is a message that they wanted to hit home in a battleground state. yes, there's not really a whole lot that's new. inside these remarks here, if you take a look at these remarks in terms of what he said out here today, but they are hitting this theme hard, suzanne. that mitt romney is the candidate of change. that president obama is the status quo. as you well know because you were out there covering president obama four years ago, it was almost, you know, an exact role reversal. president obama was casting himself as the candidate of change, and that john mccain at that time was part of the republican status quo, so mitt romney these last couple of weeks is trying to turn the tables on the president and run with his message and see if it carries him to victory. >> all right. we're going to get back to you. want to bring in candy to the

conversation here, and, candy, one of the things that everybody seems to be noticing here is that there isn't a lot there in terms of new news. is that important at this point for either of the candidates to bring they remember those talking points, so they're trying to keep it simple at this point? >> politically speaking, it is incumbent on them not so to add anything new. you have a dead even race and very close races in these battle grounds. you don't want to put anything new out there to have people pick it apart. neither one of these men are going to do this. i would see this less as a talking point. bringing to the table -- remember that -- the polls that we talked about kind of earlier right before this speech where it showed what you want to do is

talk to the topics or talk to the issues that have brought people to your side, and for mitt romney, it is -- they have always tried to sell his economy, his sort of can-do i understand business. i know how this all works. he is returning -- >> here's my strength. i think this is a -- it plays to his strength. >> candy, thank you for your analysis, as always. candy, ali and jim. very closely, every step of the way on this campaign. we're also watching a very

important story. this is a monster, monster storm already claiming more than 20 lives. could be now headed to new york, among many other major cities. we are getting ready for hurricane sandy. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day

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national weather service has -- >> virginia to massachusetts. sandy has killed already 21 people in the caribbean, but floods, heavy rains in the dominican republic, haiti, and it has kicked up powerful waves off fort lauderdale. it's got cloud fields stretching more than 1,600 miles, and storm prep is already high in new jersey. sand bags and crews and weather expert chad myers following this for us.

chad, first of all, where is it headed? >> three to three and a half days. we're dealing with the storm that could be anywhere from -- to massachusetts. our window, or our cone is still very large, because the computers are not agreeing. sometimes the computers agree right away. those models say here is where it's going, and we all say, okay, everybody get ready. the problem with this one is that some computers are left, some models are too the right. they are literally all over the place, so until they agree, we just have to tell you that here are the possibilities. the possibility that this becomes an 80 to 100-mile-per-hour storm because there's a big high pressure to the west, not that the core may be 100 miles per hour or a cat two even, but when you get high on one side and low on the other, you can really get some tremendous winds. a lot of wave action up and down the east coast. we're eroding a lot of the beaches here. now, here's what i kind of let you know. a couple days out, here's, like, 36 hours away. this is how wide the cone is.

just that. that's it. we know it's going to be in the ocean. when you move that cone ahead, all of a sudden that cone gets . that's rhode island all the way to north carolina. there's a big difference in that cone. it could be here, it could be here. there are models taking it out this way and bringing it into new york harbor. you have to stay with us. this is going to be one of the bigger storms, maybe the biggest, i've seen in my 26 years doing tv weather. it could be that significant for the northeast. by monday and tuesday, there probably won't be any air travel. you can't fly planes around in 50, 60 mile per hour winds. and the airlines don't want them on the ground. so travel across the northeast coast monday and tuesday will be nonexistent if you're not going by train. >> are we talking about windsor rain or snow? a combination of many of these

things coming together? >> yes. i couldn't tell you where the snow is going to be yet because i don't know where the low is going to be yet. i can't tell you where the dramatic winds are going to be because we don't know if it's north or south. when you pack lines, these are lines of equal pressure. when you pack them close together, there is a lot of wind. and with it bringing cold air here and maybe even lake effect snow through ohio, big snow through parts of west virginia and the wind blowing offshore here. that's if the storm is up here in new york hasher and into new jersey. if it's down here, then all bets are off. all that wind is this way into new jersey causing coastal erosion and flooding. i've seen estimates where four to five feet of coastal storm surge from all that wind blowing the water on to the land. >> we'll be watching very closely. thank you for the warning. poppy harlow with today's help

desk. >> we're talking about saving money for college. here with me to do that, stacy francis and lynnette. >> my daughter just started high school, what's the best way of saving for me for college. >> the key word she said there was extort. in an ideal world you should have started a long time ago. even at that age, i assume she can still open a 529 plan. the problem is that those are typically better for younger kids, because over time, you want to reduce the amount of stock allocation that you have and make it a little less risky. four years frankly isn't a lot of time. but don't feel that's the only way to save. go after those scholarships. those grants. you want to stay away from the student loans if you can, but by all means, tell your daughter to keep those grades super high and then the family's own resources,

the colleges are going to expect you to contribute something. >> what do you think? >> definitely the 529 plan. you can also sign up for u promise and every time you buy certain products it adds to the 529 plan. keep the assets out of her daughter's name. those are going to count against her financially. keep it in the mother's name, use the 529 plan and most likely she'll get financial aid too. >> and daughter get a job. >> thanks guys. if you have an issue that you want our experts to take a look at, just up load a 30-second video to ireport.com. ally bank. why they have a raise your rate cd.

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. president obama, mitt romney, dead even in the latest polls out of colorado. fewer than 1% of the voters are likely to decide who wins the state's 9 electoral votes. >> reporter: here we are, rocky mountain high in golden colorado, this is jefferson county. it's one of the most competitive counties in this state. both campaigns are working this county very hard. it's because as little as 20,000 or 30,000 votes across the entire state of colorado could paint this state red or blue. that's as little as 1% of the overall votes statewide. >> so this is always the scariest bit of this. >> the first step is always the ha hardest. >> reporter: spencer has run

this for two years. >> so this is the office. >> not a bad office. >> i like it. >> reporter: business has grown, starting with four guides, he now has 20. this year the company's biggest. 3,000 trips, everything from rappelling to back country skiing. he has kept prices low and taking advantage of coloradofolks staying close to home. >> the more people can raise the bar for equal pay, the more than we can feel inclusion in this state. >> reporter: colorado continues to struggle. the unemployment rate across the state about 8% here in jefferson county. it's about 7.4, just a little better. >> this is the new restaurant. >> reporter: the nunez family, all ten of them, pitching in on a family restaurant. the restaurant's draw mexican

cuisine. >> now 74, she's known as grandma. >> reporter: what do you hope to see in the next few years? >> well, i think one of the most important things is the economy. to go up a little. >> reporter: now the restaurant is run out of a strip mall. soon a new building, a liquor license and as many as 15 new employees. but this family is still agonizing over which candidate is best for the future. what makes this area so competitive? >> as you consider the numbers in terms of how the hispanic population is growing not just here but across the country. >> reporter: latinos, business owners and newer restaurants getting red to liver the electoral votes. they could decide who takes the white house. who won the